Pilot dies after fall from hot-air balloon

BRADFORD, Vt. (AP) — Vermont police say the pilot of a hot-air balloon that had been carrying a total of five people is dead after becoming entangled in gear underneath the basket and then falling to the ground in Bradford. The balloon had taken off from the Post Mills airport Thursday afternoon. It later touched down and one passenger fell out, but was unhurt. The pilot became entangled  in gear as the balloon re-ascended. He fell into a field where he was pronounced dead. After the pilot’s death, three other passengers remained in the balloon until it caught in a grove of trees in Piermont, New Hampshire, about 1.5 miles farther north, where they escaped without injury.